Lee was born on Feb. 22, 1937, in Oakland, Missouri. He grew up on a large farm very close to the Lake of the Ozarks. His parents were AnnaBelle (nee Barr) and Daniel Coonce. Lee grew up with a true love of the outdoors: Hiking, camping, fishing and hunting. After graduating high school at School of the Osage in Lake Ozark, Missouri, Lee served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1959. After earning a BS degree in Forest Land Management from Missouri State University in 1963, he began a career with the U.S. Forest Service.

Lee met his wife Olivine Duffenais Kistner in Downieville, California, an incredible spot for trout fishing on the Yuba River. They married on Jan. 7, 1966, in Reno, Nevada. As a U.S. Forester, Lee shared his love of the outdoors with his family and friends, taking his family to many different locations on the West Coast, including the Bay Area; Yreka, California; and Bend, Oregon. Lee and Olivine later went to Klamath Falls, and then to Roseburg, Oregon, where Lee supervised the Klamath and later the Umpqua National Forests. Family trips to the California and Oregon coast for crabbing, clamming, and salmon trolling were frequent, as were trips to the area lakes for catfishing and the local rivers for steelhead. Lee also enjoyed hunting for squirrel, ducks, geese, doves, deer and elk, and his friends can tell endless stories of escapades from hiking, camping, hunting and fishing expeditions.

Lee retired in 1993 with Olivine in the Yreka, California, area because he was attracted to the area’s steelhead fishing, at which he excelled, and the view of Mt. Shasta. He also loved squirrel stew, which his wife Olivine was especially adept at preparing. After Olivine’s passing in 2013, Lee moved to Wisconsin. There he resided near his family until his death from complications with Parkinson’s on April 13, 2017, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Lee is survived by son and daughter in law, Vince and Dawn Erikson Coonce of Clarks Mills, Wisconsin; four grandchildren, James, Alexandra, Krystal and John; two great-grandchildren, Noah and Lola; special friend Gloria Kellner of Waukesha; and many other friends in Wisconsin and the Pacific Northwest.

A memorial event will be held in northern California in June. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to oldsmokeys.org or the charity of your choice.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family by visiting www.pfefferfuneralhome.com.The Christianson and Deja Funeral Home, Valders, is assisting the family with local funeral arrangements.

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